Bleep

Here From Where We Are is the long-awaited debut album from Pariah. Ever since cutting out the first half of our Bleep Green Series as Karenn with his sometime production partner Blawan, he has been one of the go-to producers for fully focused techno. Yet on his debut album, Pariah lets loose the mutant bass and techno sound of his earlier material in favour of a bold new, tranquil landscape that he explores through ambient experimentation.

Those arriving here expecting an album loaded up with hardware heavy techno will be in for a sharp but pleasant shock, Here From Where We Are is what happens when Pariah lets loose the rhythmic ram of his previous work both solo and as one 1/2 of Karenn, in favour of a properly mind-warping multi-layered range of ambient textures. At moments we can hear the influence of Pauline Anna Strom, Fennesz and GAS within the endlessly flowing ocean of sound that Pariah lets us set sail upon. Yet like all of his releases to date, Pariah’s unique musical personality really shines throughout, meaning that while you can connect the dots with similar sounds and scenes, the underlying feeling is that this is undoubtedly no one other than Pariah pushing things forward. Tracks like 'Seed Bank' offer a blissful escape pod from the tears and traverses of daily life, its rich harmonies and absorbing melodies stripping back the frame of the most blissed out moments of his dancefloor gear in favour of an endless reach euphoria, while 'Conifer' and 'Linnaea' mix the sort of arpeggios that would make Bee Mask buzz with a fittingly Donato Dozzy dub sensibility. Yet the most striking track for us is without a doubt 'Drug the Lake', the way in which the peculiar strings and reverb-soaked pads swirl around is a truly incredible experience, imagine if The Caretaker got into sampling 60s psychedelic records and you are on the right path...

We'd advise listening to Here From Where We Are from start to finish, ideally sat down and with a clear head as its hypnotic powers and true prowess for sculpting hypnotic electronics makes for both an excellent album, but also a proper journey into the unknown, one that we’d strongly urge you to travel along and familiarise yourself with time and time again.